Line marker for athletic fields



Filed July 27. 1929 l rry f2@ WW Patented Dec. 8, 1931 Urrea STATES PATENT oFFice .ASAV D.l FINFROCK, OF VENTURA, CALIFORNIA LINE MARKER Fon. ATHLETIC FIELDS y Appiication filed July 27,

l games that are played upon the field,A for instance, tennis, football, baseball and the like.

Further objects of my invention are, to provide a line marker of the character referred l to, wherein an agitator is utilized for effecting the discharge of pulverized marking material from a hopper, which agitator is actuated by means of a clutch that is carried n upon a wheel supported shaft and further, to provide simple and eiiicient means under control of the operator of the device for manually throwing the clutch into and out of engagement with the agitator thereby controlling the discharge of marking material from the hopper.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts that will hereinafter be more fully de- 3o scribed and claimed Vand.illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a line marking device constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the. line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

iig. 3 is an enlarged detail section taken through the lower portion of the hopper and showing the agitator therein.

Fig. 4 is a cross section taken on the line 4C-41 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a. cross section taken on the liner' 5 5 of Fig. 2.

Referring by numerals to the accompanyi i. lower port-ion of the hopper is a bracket 28 ing drawings which illustrate a practical embodiment of my invention, 10 designates a shaft, preferably a solid metal rod, on the ends of which are detachably secured suitable wheels 11, preferably of the type having cushion tires 12 and loosely mounted on the i929. serial No. 381,668.

shaft 10 between the wheels are sleeves 13 and 14. yThe internal diameter of sleeve 14, and which latter is somewhat shorter than sleeve 13, is slightly larger than the external diameterof shaft 10, and arranged within said sleeve 14 is an expansive coil spring 15. Arranged for sliding movement within the inner end of sleeve 1li is a collar 1G from which projects pins v17 that koccupy short Vlongitudinal slots 18 in the inner end of sleeve 'le and said collar is mounted so as to rotate with shaft 10 by means of a ley or Afeather 19 that is seated in shaft 10 and whichoccupies a slot in said collar.

Formed in the enlarged outer end of `collar 16 is a groove 20 and formed on the inner end of said collar are lugsor teeth 21 which con-L stitute a clutch face.

The -lowcr portion of a hopper 22, preferably of sheet metal, surrounds the inner portion of the. longer sleeve 13 and lined on said sleeve. within the lower portion of said'hopper collar 16. Y

Securedy to the lower portion of hopper 22 1s an outwardly progecting yohe 23.y to which 1s secured the. inner end of a tubular member 26 that functions as a handle for pushing or f pulling the ymarker and secured on theouter end vof said tubular yhandle is across bar 27 that is manually engaged during operation of the marker'.

Projecting laterally from one side of the.

on which is fulcrumed a lever 29, th-e inner vend thereof beingformed into a yoke 30 and' pins 31 that project from the ends of saidv YVyoke. engage in clutch 2O in collar 16 (see rig. 5).

form a short handle 33 that is adapted to oc- Y cupy a notch 34 in the rear end of tubular member 26. p

Depending from the forward end of rod v 31 at right angles thereto is a short crank arrA 35 and pii'otally connect-ed to the end thereof is the inner end of a link 36, the outer end of which is pivotally connected to the rear end of lever 29.

While not in use or while being drawn or pushed over the ground without discharging marking material thereuntoV the parts of the marker occupy the positions as illustrated in F ig. 2, with the clutch face 21 out ofengagement with clutch face 24C, and with the clutch actuating parts 29, 36 and 32 retained in their out of service positions by the engagement of the handle 33 in notch 34.

Under such conditions the marker can be drawn or pushed over the ground and shaft,

carrying the wheels 11 will rotate within sleeve 13 without imparting rotary movement thereto, it being understood that said sleeve carries the agitator V23.

In order to rotate the agitator while the marker is pulled or pushed over the ground, the operator engages handle 33 and draws rod 32 a sufficient distance through the tubular handle 26 to disengage said handle 33 from the notch 34e and rod 32 is now permitted to rotate under the pressure exerted by spring 15 which pressure is transmitted through col lar 16, lever 29 and link 36 to rod 32 and following the expansion of spring l5, collar 16 will be moved outwardly in the end of sleeve le until clutch face 21 engages clutch face 24: on the end of sleeve 13 and thus said sleeve will be rotatedwith shaft 10 that carries the wheels il.

Inasmuch as the agitator 23 is secured on shaft 13, said agitator will be rotated in the lower portion of the hopper 22 and as a result the pulverized material will be discharged from the opening in the lower end of said hopper and will be delivered into the ground to form a mark or line thereon.

To cut off the operation of the agitator it is only necessary tomanually operate rod 32 so to move collar 16 and its clutch face away from the clutch face 24 on the inner end of the agitator carrying sleeve.

'Ihus it will be seen that I have provided line marking device that is relatively simple in construction, inexpensive of manufacture and capable of being easily and quickly manipulated so as to control the discharge of marking material from the hopper that,A

forms a part or" the device.

It will be understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of myimproved line marking device inay be made and substituted for those herein shown anddescribed without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

- I claim as my invention:

1. In a line marking device, a shaft, wheels secured on the ends of said shaft, a sleeve loosely mounted on said shaft, a hopper having its lower portion surrounding and loosely mounted on the inner portion of said sleeve, an agitator secured on the sleeve within the lower portion of said hopper, a clutch face on the inner end of said sleeve and a spring pressed clutch member carried by the shaft agitator to the clutch face on the inner end of said sleeve, which clutch member is mount ed for rotary and sliding movement upon said shaft, a tubular handle connected to the y lower portion of said hopper, a rod extending through said handle, operating connections between the inner end of said rod and said clutch, the outer end of the rod being bent at right angles to form a crank arm and the out-er endl of said tubular handle having a notch for the reception of said crank arm.

2. In a line marking device for athletic fields, a hopper provided in its lower portion with an outlet opening, a sleeve loosely mounted in the lower portion'of said hopper above said opening, an agitator secured on said sleeve within the said hopper, a shaft extending through said sleeve, wheels secured on the ends of said shaft, a clutch face on the inner end of said sleeve, a spring pressed clutch member mounted for rotary and sliding movement on said shaft adjacent to said clutch face, a tubular handle secured to and projecting from said hopper, a rod eX- l tending through said tubular handle, a yoke fulcrumed on the hopper and engaging said spring pressed clutch member, a ring between the inner end of said rod and the rear end of said yoke, the outer endy of said tubular handle having a notch and the outer end a Ycrank arm formed on the outer end of said ASA D. FINFROCK. 

